Helgra Swordcut, Hellion Mercenary (A to Z, H)

Bouncing back to the Sea of Stars and fantasy for today’s supporting cast member.

Helgra Swordcut, Hellion Mercenary

Quote: Look, I do not care why you want it done.  Your justification for why you want people killed will not reduce the price.  But I do not kill civilians, if you want to burn out a town, hire some bandits, I kill other warrior.

My ancestry?  Fuck if I know.  I was raised in an orphanage and the people there did not seem to care where I came from as long as I did my work.

Nice sword . . . if you can keep it.

Description: Helgra is above average height for a woman and broad-shouldered, she is all tight muscle and it is easy to mistake her for man.  Her skin is ruddy and she has two nubs on her forehead where her horns have been sawed off.  Her hair is a dark red-brown and cut very short and her eyes are dark crimson.  She has no small number of small to medium-sized scars across her body (including quite a large one at the base of her spine where her tail was removed as an infant).

She dresses in practical and hard wearing clothing; even in town, she favors leather that can serve as light armor.  In the field, she prefers light mail, a steel helm, and a shield.  Her weapon of choice is a broad sword she calls Limbcutter, but she also carries a short sword, many daggers, and a sling (along with a pouch of bullets).  She can use a bow or crossbow, and will under the right circumstances, but finds that they catch on things during the close fighting she prefers.

While she is a warrior, through and through, Helgra has a good sense of humor, loves to sing, and is almost embarrassed by her skills as a cook.  Fighting is what she is good at, and she enjoys being good at it, but she takes no joy in ending people’s lives.

Background: Helgra‘s earliest memories are from the orphanage she spent her childhood in, it was not the worst place to grow up in, at least she was not a slave.  But she was expected to work and work hard.  The orphanage taught all of the children there basic skills in etiquette, reading, and math also with practical skills with the hope that their charges would be able to secure jobs as servants in wealthy households for which they would be paid a finder’s fee.  Helgra went along with all that, sneaking away when she could to watch the militia drill and watch the local bravos fight.  She hardened herself, picking fights and risking beatings.

She was recruited into a mercenary company after she laid out one of their new members with a single punch when he tried to chase her off.  Helgra was a quick learned and soon was fighting in the frontlines with her compatriots.  That band dissolved after its leader was killed during a dispute over pay and Helgra has gone solo, finding jobs as a bodyguard, trainer, and general foot soldier.  But if you have the coin and an honorable contract, she will work for you too.

Presenting this Character: Helgra is a tough, no nonsense sort of person, it is not that she does not have an interior life but just that she does not really try to hide what she is.  She is rough and tumble, a professional purvoyer of violence, and while she knows etiquette and how to properly address people, she does her best to avoid being in situations where she is dealing with nobles and such.  She can do so, she just does not like it, it reminds her of her childhood.

She is generally the common image of a mercenary, rough living, hard drinking, and foul-mouthed.  But she is not mean-spirited, indeed she in generally pleasant to be around, as long as you do not mind the swearing.

What can she do?: She is a tough fighter, specializing in getting in close and mixing it up.  Helgra does not mind getting her hands dirty, be it in combat or construction, she works and paries hard.  Really, the only thinks that set her apart from any other mercenary are the gifts of her ancestry: she shrugs off high heat and is difficult to burn, and can call upon firey spite against those that hurt her, occasionally.

She knows a fair amount about the mercenary subculture and recognizes names and symbols of the various bands and companies.  She has a good singing voice and is quite a good cook.

Who might know her and why: Anyone who has worked as a mercenary or a soldier might have met her, hopefully fighting on the same side.  Though Helgra has no animosity toward people she has fought against.

Helgra might have worked as a bodyguard for a noble or merchant family a character might be associated with.

A long shot and distant tie would be someone who grew up in the same orphanage as Helgra.

Plot Hooks: A lone traveller is cornered by a group of thugs.  What do you do?  (The thugs are likely to be the ones in trouble in this scenario.)

Helgra sees you passing through a village and asks if she can accompany you as far as the next town or city.  Her last contract left her here and there is not much work about.

Notes: More about Hellions here (from a previous A to Z even).

A fun character I think.

Image cropped from that of the first women Indian Air Force pilots from Aviatrix on flicker and is in the Public Domian.  As is the sword and shield but I have lost my source.